Reheated-coffee-reading.

Glad you found us!

I don't ski, I don't drink craft beer and I don't have a dog, but by golly I am a real Colorado native girl. So now you can still believe in unicorns! Here's my ode to motherhood, you know because all of us bloggers write like we were the first, only and last mama out there.

Apr 19 Colfax Cruising: Jubilee & McD's

Just realized my last post was my 200th on this blog! Woo woo! Thanks for sticking around, or welcome if you're just tuning in!
Last Friday was a gloomy one around Denver. It was cloudy and chilly and the calm before the storm, literally. We had a spring blizzard here! So, in anticipation of being cooped up for the weekend, which we totally were, except for mommy going to a baby shower on Saturday, I decided to venture to East Colfax again. I'm hooked. NO pun intended, haha...

I had driven past an OLD McDonald's structure and knew I wanted to document this awesome piece of architecture. The morning didn't go quite as planned, do they ever with babies, and I didn't get the images I had imagined of the restaurant, but it all went incredibly in the end and I made a HUGE discovery! A coffee roasting company/art gallery space/ coolest hangout in a totally nondescript building directly across the street, across the Discount Tire parking lot! I looked up and saw the gorgeous mural, street art and murals always stop me. Right above this giant green image was a sign that read, "Jubilee Coffee Roasting Co. & Art." I about peed myself. Maybe I did. Maybe I sneezed. Either way I was giddy, giddy, giddy. Could it be? A REAL coffee shop, the kind you find popping up around Capital Hill, RINO, Highlands... could it actually BE a COOL coffee place and are they really roasting in there? Is it going to turn out to be an old stuffy place with arty craftiest knick knacks around and be like a Boyers coffee inside?

I grabbed the kiddos and we dashed across Colfax to investigate. We stopped to scope out the mural. Remy commented, "That's pretty momma." She was in a bit of a funk at first and wasn't really up for photos against the wall. We headed inside. From outside, Jubilee could go completely unnoticed, and almost looks like my old doctor's office. The awesome signage and succulents adorning the window sills gave me hope. I opened the large wooden door and inside I was BLOWN away. I felt like I was Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, opening the door to the Emerald Castle. Quiet, calm and unassuming on the outside, well the Emerald Castle was sort of opulent whereas this was a simple brown brick building, but once inside, there was a vibe, a culture, a gathering of like minds. A smell, a feeling, and it hit on all my happy points!

I was literally jumping out of my sneakers! THIS place exists on East Colfax?! The reporter/blogger in me came out and I couldn't stop the questions! They opened last December, they being Peter and Austin, those two gents down there. They roast their own beans, and they host cup pings and they brewed me up a fantastic pour over from a Brazilian bean. There looked to be medical students form the nearby University Hospital and a few remote, self-employed workers. As soon as we came in we were welcomed, greeted and treated like neighbors. Remy and Arlo picked up on the hospitality and were immediately their social selves, completely comfortable in plopping on their big leather sofa, checking out their coffee table books, playing pee-a-boo with the owners and waltzing up to strangers working on laptops to introduce themselves. They especially enjoyed sitting on the high top bar stools and dangling their feet below.

when they were done, they were done. They had seen the Play Place at McDonald's and had pancakes on the brain. We had ate a healthy oatmeal breakfast before leaving and I thought since McDonald's serves breakfast all day, I could get my Egg mcMuffin, sans pork, and a has brown and they could share a pancake as a treat! We have been to McD's on road trips, but the girls were young and had not tasted the food, and we recently went after a family outing for breakfast. We don't eat out at fast food so this was truly something special for them, and ME! After the photo and questions at Jubilee, and my hot coffee, we crossed back across Colfax to indulge in a pancake and the Play Place, but NOT before missing out on a spontaneous dance party in the parking lot of Discount Tire! The music was pippin and Remy and Arlo caught the dancing bug. Rahter than pull them along and stop them as I tend to do, and I'm trying to be better at letting them guide explorations too, I went with it and snapped some of the best photos of the day! Their joy and happiness just skipping around! Some shots have both of their feet off the ground! It wasn't without some sort of hiccup. Arlo's little Oxfords are a wee bit too big still and she tripped and the entire front of her was covered in black asphalt soot. Wonderful! But they had fun!

Inside the Play Place, more magic! They PLAYED! It was us, and two other little girls for the entire duration of our stay! The other little girls were 10 and 8, another set of sisters, and they were so sweet, and caring and nurturing to my girls. I felt so comfortable and relaxed that my girls would be okay and have fun, that I let myself have fun too and I SAT down! I sat down next to their grandfather and grandmother, their care takers for the day, and I chatted them up! Maybe it was the full bodied brew I just had, maybe it was the high I was still on from finding such a gem, but I decided to be open. You know that feeling when you are OPEN to being social. Your little social judgement gates are open, your little socio-economic flags aren't waving and you are just YOU, and people are just people, and we are all here together doing the SAME thing, so let's talk about it.

Well, I LOVE when I am open because I am solo much happier and those around me feel it too. I was able to chat with this beautiful family from Suarez, Mexico, they've lived in Colorado for 16 years, and I was able to delve deeper into the neighborhood and got a list of fantastic restaurants to try! We talked about Mexican vacations, people from Argentina, where they worked, their granddaughter's possible trip to Disney... It was fantastic. I had adult conversation with an elderly Mexican couple at a McDonald's on East Colfax and I let my kids dance and fall all over a black top parking lot at a Discount Tire and then slather themselves in germs at Play Place. Nothing says, "building immunity," than a morning like that.

We didn't end the day there, momma pushed them a little longer and finally did an errand for herself. That's right. I had coffee, spoke to adults, and got an errand done inane morning. No I didn't buy a lotto ticket. I did however buy a few camera accessories at the camera store!

I had sucha a beautiful and Fun Friday with my girls last week. I am not sure if it is spring, or what, but I have been so inspired with photography lately, and had such a huge appetite for utilizing this FREEDOM of time right now in my life to grab the girls and just GO...